In spite performance appearing to boost current interest in poetry, Salt independent publishers have given up single author collections. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/may/24/salt-poetry-market-slump  Director Chris Hamilton-Emery explained in Guardian Poetry “We’ve seen our sales [of single-author collections] decline by over a quarter in the past year, and our sales have halved in the past five years…We have tried to commit to single-author collections by funding them ourselves, but as they have become increasingly unprofitable, we can’t sustain it.”

One positive may be Salt’s decision to focus on poetry anthologies. Increasing the number they produce might also increase opportunities for the new poet voices to be heard, but Salt’s withdrawal restricts the places available to move on to. Why don’t people read poetry collections? Is it because they don’t know they’re there or does poetry on the page holds less interest. Maybe performance is the way to bridge the gap after all.